Glasses - Online or High Street?

anotheruser

I can't quite understand the draw of buying glasses online.
I'm an online !!!!! in nearly everything else but glasses is something I can't bring myself to order because I need to see and feel what the frame is like.

What say you MSE?

suki1964

with a complex prescription Im high street all the way

If I had a bog standard prescription I would be tempted to buy online for the savings to be had

Vegastare

Well I only have reading glasses and get from High Street, I have thought of getting a back up pair or two online, but I can't make out the prescription they gave, even after getting my friend who works in same shop to write it down for me... and with the High St you can always pop in for fitting adjustments

Tom99

I buy from glassesdirect, at that price I can afford to have new glasses every time my prescription changes even though it may not be enough to need new glasses.
Last time I paid about £28 for 2 pairs, one reading one distance and the time before that was £14 for 2 pairs.

anotheruser

Tom99 wrote: »

Last time I paid about £28 for 2 pairs, one reading one distance and the time before that was £14 for 2 pairs.

Whereas I paid a good few hundred for these frames and lenses...

martinthebandit

When I just needed reading glasses I always bought them on line, now I wear bifocals so buy them in the shop.

Just a point, I've tried a non chain optician, vision express and specsavers,

The service at the non chain was ok.
The service at vision express was abysmal.
But the service at specsavers has been excellent so I'm not going anywhere else.

amandacat

I’ve bought my last 4 pairs of glasses from glasses direct. I order trial frames for free- 4 at a time, until I find some I like. Last time I got two pairs for £80, these were quality frames, which included anti reflective coating.
That said I need varifocals now and don’t think I’d trust buying them online.

Spoonie_Turtle

I have bought online in the past, for an emergency spare pair, but it takes me so long to decide on frames even in person that it helps to have them there physically next to each other even just to narrow down the choices. Online tells you all the dimensions but it's just not the same as having them there next to each other. Plus I've found it useful to have an objective opinion whether frames I like are suitable - I've previously decided on a pair then been told they're too narrow for my face, or that the bridge doesn't sit properly (all plastic frames) because it was too wide. I only want to buy new glasses when my prescription changes, I only want one pair unless I buy sunglasses too, and the free aftercare at Specsavers is first class. I also can't reliably measure my own PD and it's not on my prescription, so to ensure it's accurate I'd have to send off a pair I already own so they can read it off the lenses, and to be honest I just don't want to risk the hassle for something I rely on to function every day, and that I only buy every two years on average.

[If I end up completely housebound I might change my mind, but then I'd have to somehow have a home visit for the eye test anyway so surely they have some provision for choosing frames too.]

Pollycat

I have a small, narrow face so really need to try glasses on before buying.
I actually ended up with a teen pair and child's pair rather than adults.
The optician recommended that I look at those ranges, although I did try on adult frames too, most of which were too wide for my face.
Additionally, last year when in Specsavers choosing my very first pair of glasses in my life (I'm a pensioner), I was very aware of what suited me and didn't, what felt comfortable and didn't and how the frames did or didn't get in the way of my vision.

So I doubt I'd ever buy online.

bensworld

I also don't understand this. It's too risky to buy glasses online..

onomatopoeia99

martinthebandit wrote: »

Just a point, I've tried a non chain optician, vision express and specsavers,

The service at the non chain was ok.
The service at vision express was abysmal.
But the service at specsavers has been excellent so I'm not going anywhere else.

When I was a child my parents took me to an independent ("non chain"). Each time my prescription changed and I needed new spectacles, the world seemed to acquire a slope, either uphill or downhill, for a couple of days. Dunno what he did when making them up but that shouldn't happen.

As an adult, the first place I went was specsavers. They fit OK but the gold on the frames flaked off in a year and the anti-scratch coating didn't do anything to stop scratches, in about three years it was like looking through fog all the time,

Then went to an independent near work who were excellent. For the last 15 years they have been part of vision express, but are still excellent and get me stuff that Vision express don't sell (Zeiss lenses, for example).